IPL: BCCI terminates Deccan Chargers’ contract

The BCCI on Friday night terminated the contract of the debt-ridden Deccan Chargers, bringing an end to the suspense on the fate of the beleaguered franchise.

The decision to terminate Deccan’s contract was taken at an emergency governing council meeting of the IPL in Chennai.

BCCI president Srinivasan has terminated the Deccan Chargers contract

The media release stated:

This evening, BCCI has received a lawyers notice invoking arbitration from the franchise stating that it had not committed any breaches and even if such breaches were committed, the BCCI should not act to terminate the franchise till Yes Bank Ltd furnishes sufficient finance to cure the breaches. By this, Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd has clearly admitted its inability to cure itsr breaches within the time stipulated in the BCCI notice despite every bit of assistance from the BCCI. Since the month of May, BCCI has received repeated assurances that the overdue player fees would be paid; all of these promises have been unfulfilled.

The Governing Council took note of the sudden change of stance by the franchise and also the fact that any further extension of time would seriously prejudice the interests of the players.

Considering the stated position of the Deccan franchise to refuse to rectify the various defaults including payments to players, foreign Boards etc, as also the deleterious effect such conduct would have on the reputation of the IPL and the franchise itself, a decision was taken to forthwith terminate the Deccan Chargers franchise.

The committee will decide whether to float a fresh tender for a new team or allow PVP Ventures, a Hyderabad-based urban infrastructure and film production company, whose Rs. 900 crore bid was rejected by Deccan at the auction on Thursday, to take the team.

Deccan Chronicle Holdings, the owner of Deccan Chargers, received a bid of Rs. 900 crore by PVP Venture Capitals but surprisingly chose to reject it at the auction, as it considered the price and terms unsuitable.

The late night development comes as a setback for Deccan Chargers, which was trying to resolve its financial problems ahead of the 5 pm deadline on Saturday.